Golf has been a popular form of entertainment for many years, crossing many cultures. Recently, there has been interest in applying new technology to create new entertaining variants of the game. In particular, driving ranges have become popular, with as many as 100 or more “hitting bays” on multiple levels.
Traditionally, driving ranges were established to allow players to practice their golf game on an open field. During game play, a player strikes a golf ball at a flag placed some distance away and the player visually attempts to determine the landing position of the ball in relation to the flag. In view of the distance travelled by the golf ball, the relatively small size of the golf ball, weather and other such considerations, game play at a driving range has been limited to a singular and personal experience, in which the player could not compete with or play against other players in the driving range.
Recently, driving ranges have increased in sophistication and include targets and score-keeping equipment, which reward the player when the target is hit or when the golf ball lands near the target.
One method for tracking golf balls includes embedding Radio Frequency Identification Devices (“RFID”) in golf balls used in the facility. These RFID golf balls have encoded values that can be detected by a generated radio frequency and antenna. The RFID in the ball is associated with a player or a particular hitting bay before it is hit by the player. When the player uses an RFID ball that is hit into a target area, that particular ball RFID is detected at a target equipped with RFID detection devices. This enables electronic scoring of hits on particular targets and the determination of which player hit which target. This information can then be automatically detected by computer systems and used to score games in which the player participates. Other technologies that may be used in combination with, or instead of, RFID identification have also been suggested. These include the use of Doppler-radar, lasers, or one or more high-resolution cameras using computerized image analysis. Some of the aforementioned techniques are presently in use in commercial entertainment centers in the U.S. and overseas.
These developments in golfing and driving range experiences increase the players' entertainment and have been commercialized as a result. Thus, there continues to be interest in improving the players' experience and increase the players' engagement in the driving range experience. One method to increase player engagement and entertainment is to include a wagering option to the driving range experience.
However, a wagering system must have much higher levels of ball tracking accuracy and integrity than are required for an entertainment-only system. In a non-wagering system there is a low standard of precise ball identification required and a relatively high tolerance for error. Thus, the failure to properly identify and register a small percentage of balls at a target or target area may be tolerated up to some reasonable threshold.
In contrast, in a wagering system the cost of a wager and the potential to win monetary awards or other prizes of value reduce the tolerable level of error significantly. The reduced level of tolerable error derives from players' interest in their wager and potential winnings, game operators' interest in regulatory compliance and customer satisfaction, and governmental regulatory requirements. As the stakes of the wager increase, the tolerance for error diminishes. Although there is some reasonable tolerance for very rare errors, i.e. slot machines are typically marked, “Malfunction voids all plays and pays,” the error rate must be determined to be a miniscule fraction of a percent. Additionally, in the case of an error, it is typically required that players get refunds for any play cost in the event of a malfunction. Thus, gaming regulators can be expected to require extremely high levels of identification precision, including mechanisms that ensure players are never “cheated,” and that the game performs precisely as represented.
However, RFID alone does not provide sufficient reliability for tracking balls in a wagering system. RFID tags embedded in golf balls fail regularly due to the high stress and deformation that occurs when a ball is struck. Additionally, the alternative tracking systems, such as laser-based systems and radar-based systems, suffer from reduced efficacy when mist, fog, rain, or clouds obscure a driving range area.
Thus, a golf wagering system must overcome multiple concerns beginning with improved ball tracking accuracy that accounts for ball identification failure and thereby lowers the level of ball identification errors. Another significant problem that must be solved in such a wagering system is determining how to create games that allow players at many different skill levels to compete for prizes. This problem is significant because a system which allowed the best golfers to have an advantage in winning prizes will not attract the general public in a way required to achieve commercial success, and may violate local regulations.
Thus, a tracking apparatus, system, and method that tracks a projectile or golf ball with a high degree of precision and accuracy during inclement weather conditions. Further, a golf game that includes a wagering element is desirable.